Hummingbird Bakery Frosted Brownies

This recipe yields, without a doubt in my mind, the BEST chocolate brownies I have ever eaten. The base is a rich dark chocolate that is thick, sweet and chewy.  The chocolate cream cheese frosting is just that - icing on the cake.  Smooth, creamy and rich with dark cocoa powder.  This combo is a winner!

Thank-you, Hummingbird Bakery, for another amazing recipe.  Every one I have tried so far from their gorgeous cookbook has been a huge success.  This one is no different.

Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

Let's face it, who doesn't love brownies? And who doesn't love cupcakes? No show of hands? Exactly.

Why choose? Combine the rich and chocolatey density of a brownie into a cupcake topped with fudge icing and you pretty much have my definition of heaven.

I had 2 special ingredients on hand for this recipe but you can make it without them. Just ensure you have some good quality dark chocolate (4 ounces worth) before you begin. I wanted to dress these up a bit so I chose an extra dark Godiva chocolate (85% cocoa) and for the decorative topping I opted for some Brownie Tattoos I had purchased several weeks ago at Michael's Craft Store.

The trick to working with the tattoos in this recipe is to use a puncher or circular cutter to get a clean circular cut. After you cut out the circle, simply peel off the edible tattoo
and press gently down onto the icing.

These bake up nicely in paper liners and tend not to rise too much
due to the heavy brownie batter. If you want to bake directly in a muffin pan
then ensure you spray the tin liberally with cooking spray.

Frost them using a piping tip or an icing spatula

to spread frosting over the cupcakes. I used a Wilton 2D tip.


Then apply the tattoo cutouts and enjoy!

LET'S GET STARTED!

RECIPE:
*altered source recipe: Brownie Cupcakes, Joy of Baking

WHAT YOU NEED

4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup fine granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

FUDGE FROSTING

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Brownie Tattoos (optional)

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 325F
LINE muffin tin with 12 paper liners

IN SMALL DOUBLE BOILER, melt chocolate and butter stirring constantly until smooth and combined
SET ASIDE and let come to room temperature
TRANSFER to large bowl and whisk in sugar and vanilla extract
WHISK in 3 eggs, one a time, until combined
STIR in flour and salt
DIVIDE equally into muffin tin (I use an ice cream scoop to measure out the batter)
BAKE 23-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out sticky with moist crumbs
LET COOL in tin 5 minutes them transfer to cooling rack
LET COOL COMPLETELY

FROSTING:

IN SMALL DOUBLE BOILER, melt chocolate whisking continuously until smooth
REMOVE FROM HEAT and let come to room temperature
IN STAND MIXER fitted with paddle attachment, mix butter 2-3 minutes MED speed
ADD melted chocolate
BLEND until combined
ADD icing sugar and vanilla extract
BLEND slow speed 1 minute, scrape down sides and mix 3 minutes MED speed
SPOON into piping bag fitted with your tip of choice
PIPE frosting onto cooled cupcakes
CUTOUT brownie tattoos, peel of backing and press down lightly into tops of cupcakes

ENJOY !


Also seen here:

Vanilla Sour Cream Cupcakes with Fudge Icing

These lovely little jewels are dense and moist thanks to egg yolks and sour cream. Top them off with a chocolate fudge icing and you are in business !

This recipe is one of my faves; simple yet effective !!! I found it years ago in a fantastic baking cookbook.

The icing is just a buttercream base with added melted semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate. You cannot go wrong with buttercream !

A vanilla buttercream icing would work just as well. And for Easter, think about tinting it a pastel shade of green, yellow, pink or blue !

The Secret (to a superb yellow cupcake) Lies Within.

For those not lucky enough to own this little gem,
I will repost the recipe here with a few alterations.

Cook's Illustrated Magazine - Baking Illustrated. America's Test Kitchen.

LET'S GO !!

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup fine white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large egg at room temperature
2 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (love Madagascar vanilla in these!)
1/2 cup full fat sour cream at room temperature


FOR THE ICING:

2 ounces of dark baking chocolate
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (you can go with baking chocolate or even chocolate chips)
2/3 cup unsalted butter @ room temperature
1 1/3 cups sifted icing sugar
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
GREASE 12 muffin cups or LINE with paper liners (I am always a fan of liners!)
IN A LARGE BOWL, whisk together first four ingredients
WITH ELECTRIC HAND-MIXER, add all other ingredients and blend until combined
DIVIDE batter evenly among muffin cups
BAKE for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
ALLOW to cool in muffin tin 5 minutes
REMOVE cupcakes and allow to cool 1/2 hr on a cooling rack before icing

Ready to be iced

MAKE THE ICING:

CHOP chocolate into small pieces
IN A SMALL MICROWAVE SAFE BOWL, combine dark and semisweet chocolate
MICROWAVE 30 seconds at 50% power
STIR and microwave again 30 seconds at 50% power
STIR and if melted then great ! If not, back in it goes
ONCE MELTED, allow to cool to room temperature
IN SEPARATE LARGE BOWL, whip butter with electric hand-mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes at medium speed)
SIFT in icing sugar and mix until blended (1 minute at medium speed should do it!).
ADD vanilla extract and mix til combined.
ADD cooled chocolate mixture and blend until well combined.

ICE the cupcakes: I used a 1M Swirl Wilton piping tip.

My little assembly line

The Desired Result

Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Chips

Fudgie brownies studded with milk chocolate chips. These are dense, moist and just too good to only have one !

These are very easy to make and contain 4 hits of chocolate: unsweetened, dark, cocoa and milk chocolate chips! A quadruple whammy of goodness.

Not many pics today as I made these late last night and was too tired to snap as I went along.


RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

3/4 cup unsalted butter cut into chunks
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
3 ounces dark chocolate chopped
1 tablespoon cocoa (Fry's works great)
1 1/2 cups fine white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F and grease an 8inch square baking pan
MELT butter, unsweetened and dark chocolate slowly in a double boiler until smooth
WHISK cocoa into melted butter/chocolate mixture and let cool 15 minutes
IN LARGE BOWL, combine sugar, vanilla and salt
ADD cooled chocolate mixture and stir until well blended
ADD one egg at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula after each egg addition
ADD flour, blending just until combined. I like folding it in with a spatula to reduce the possibility of overmixing
GENTLY fold in chocolate chips
POUR batter into prepared pan

BAKE for 35 minutes. Toothpick test in center should be almost clean
REMOVE from oven and allow to cool on rack completely
CUT into squares and ENJOY !

TIP: dip knife into hot water to ensure a clean cut. Wipe off knife of all brownie residue after each cut, dip in hot water and cut again !

These little brownies would also be delicious with a simple buttercream icing and topped with sprinkles or a candy heart to liven things up a bit :)